“Artists can help us see around corners,” the center’s director, Roderick Schrock, said. “They can help us interrogate the world we live in. I think artists really have an ability to help the culture at large gain a better understanding of the relationship of society and issues we face.”

What was different was that there wasn’t anyone playing instruments or even a DJ. Instead, the artists were writing computer code, live, programming the music and lights in languages like Clojure and Haskell.

Through her work, Allahyari “re-figures” how people think about and talk about female or queer figures by retelling their stories using 3D printed models, video, reading rooms, and public performances.

Built around ideas of accessibility and inclusion, the programming is part of an overall strategy to transition from an incubator site for artists working with technology into a more publicly engaged space.